Sophinx Riddleton
---- This character is undergoing a major revamp ---- Sophinx Riddleton is the daughter of the cursed princess and John from The Traveling Companion by Hans Christian Andersen. In more ways than one, Sophinx inspires shock and awe in her fellow royals. Despite coming from a rather obscure tale, Sophinx’s family has risen to become one of the most influential houses in Ever After. So much so that the kingdom became a lead in the fields of medicine and technology and even has several Charming branches under its thumb. All thanks to its time honored organ harvesting donation program fueled by the bones and flesh of unlucky suitors to its infamous princess. As an only child, Sophinx is the sole heiress to this organ trade empire. Opinions about her are various. Sophinx’s teachers appreciate her dedication to her destiny. After all, she tries her best to as proper a princess as she is a villain. Some of her fellow princesses admire her confidence while envying her villain freedom to act as she pleases. Hopeful princes either flock to her or stay well away from the future Charming slayer. Whatever people think of her, Sophinx doesn’t seem to care. After all, they’re all viewing her as she wants to be seen. Had she cared about the destiny conflict, Sophinx would be a Royal. It doesn’t matter considering the fact she had already willingly signed the Storybook of Legends. Despite that, Sophinx’s begun to question whether it was the right choice. Her strategy has always been keeping her friends close and her enemies closer, yet she’s come to see it manifest in an unexpected form. Her positive experiences with those she once mistakened as lesser beings or foes shattered her past beliefs. Now, Sophinx’s not so sure the destiny she’s prepared all her life for is as righteous as she thought it was. Character Personality (Being rewritten) When you first meet Sophinx in person, it is hard to imagine her being the monster rumors would lead you to believe. On the surface, she is soft-spoken and polite towards others. Sophinx is prim and proper and she has very good manners. Sophinx shakes hands with her guests and generously treats them to sweet snacks. She’s fond of tea parties and balls. Not unlike any ordinary princess. Only by further inspection will you realize all that’s sinister about Sophinx leaks out in subtlety. It is no coincidence her handshakes tend to be firm, sometimes even painful. Even if she does apologize for hurting and blame it on her own enthusiasm, it is clear that Sophinx’s tight grip is an intentional power move. Sophinx possesses a god complex, and a huge one at that. Like an emperor proud of his status as the self-proclaimed son of some almighty god, Sophinx boasts about her swan maiden ancestry. According to local legend, the queen in the first edition of the story was missing for she was a swan maiden who fled the kingdom, leaving the king heartbroken and princess hellbent on finding a way to achieve the same powers as her mother via black magic, resulting in her being cursed by the magician. Sophinx believes in the legend wholeheartedly and assumes she is in a way superior to the average human being. (It doesn’t help that her beliefs were somewhat confirmed after recieving the result of her DNA test conducted by 40ThievesandMe) Therefore Sophinx thinks she is in a position to perform godly duties such as selection and granting “immortality”. Sophinx has yet to be given her license to kill, but she already has a clear idea why and how she’ll go about doing it. She is an advocate for the guillotine, which she believes is the most humane method of execution compared to even to modern ways such as firing squad and legal injection. The sharp blade ensures a swift and painless death for the convicted, while the cable holding up the blade can easily be connected and remotely controlled by a lever or a button, removing a professional executioner from the equation and letting “the forces of nature”, in this case gravity, take the blame for the dirty work so no one has to feel guilty. The guillotine deals the least damage to the whole body, which is crucial for organ harvesting. The remaining bones will be processed into various artful items such as flowerpots, chandeliers, bone china and cremation jewels. Sophinx thinks that by turning what was once useless princes in life into timeless treasures,they have been granted immortality at the cost of their identities. Sophinx herself uses such products as an odd way to elevate them and show her respect towards their sacrifices and contributions to her nation’s medical industry. It is not an exaggeration to say that her moral compass is out of whack, for Sophinx rarely feels any remorse because in her mind, she isn’t in the wrong. She knows exactly what she’s doing and what benefits her actions give not only to herself but to her people. Sophinx takes full responsibility should anything go wrong and doesn’t see that she would ever need to apologize for what she committed. In a way, Sophinx is a very extreme case of doing the wrong things for the right reasons. She’s brutal, but she doesn’t mind so long as she can keep her kingdom and its citizens safe and sound. She can be stubborn but not stubborn enough to break the rules. Sophinx merely seeks loopholes to bend them or straight up changes the ones she has the power to, within reason. She is already walking the fine line between good and evil, fair and unfair, so she wouldn’t want to throw off that balance and get into trouble for it. That’s why she thinks hard about every plan and scheme. Appearance Sophinx radiates beauty. But just like radiation, something’s a bit off. Her curly hair is naturally a fiery shade of red and is tipped with neon green flames. If you ask her, the tips allude to the green flash sometimes seen with sunsets. Her rosy cheeks and eyelids make up for the fact she’d be otherwise as pale as death. She has blue and pink eyes that glow like the flame of a bunsen burner when excited. In terms of physique, she has an hourglass body featuring prominent shoulders that are a result of regular dancing practice. Abilities Sophinx is able to transform into a black neck swan or sprout wings in her human form allowing her to take flight. She inherited these owers from her ancestor. Sophinx is descended from a swan maiden who was the missing queen in the first edition of the story. The king’s sorrow after her disappearance was amplified when the princess made her first kills as he felt he had failed as a parent and that he had failed his beloved. *Magic: Sophinx is fascinated by supernatural forces. **Sophinx carries a bejeweled dressage whip which is both her royal sceptre as well as a magic wand that she can channel her inner magic with. She sometimes zaps people she dislikes with it. *The environment: Sophinx not only recycles human remains, she recycles normal trash like everyone else. Sophinx tries her best to give back to nature through small actions such as sorting her waste, using reusable products and planting trees. Interests *Gardening Dancing Sophinx knows that life is limited so she tries to enjoy as much of hers while it lasts. And she swears she’ll be dancing til the very end. Dance is an important aspect of her social and personal life. It helps her interact and bond with people. Waltzing isn’t just a hobby. It’s part of her strategy for luring princes. It’s the most intimate way she can approach them without causing any alarm, whether that comes from the royals themselves or any overseeing authority figures. With her chest against his and their arms around each other, Sophinx allows the prince to lead her in the dance. This gives the illusion that she has interest in him and thus would be easy on the riddles. Any talking while dancing will sometimes give her precious intel on her victim’s kingdom of origin which would be of great help to her on the political field. Even if it’s just all part of a plan, Sophinx dances with gusto. She believes death should be greeted with open arms and a huge smile. After all people don’t coin terms like “danse macabre” and “hempen jig” for nothing. That isn’t to say that she’s not afraid of death. She’s only afraid of death as a sudden stop to any chance of further contribution to the world rather than the end to her greatness. As Sophinx doesn’t follow any religion, she thinks she won’t be subjected to any sort of underworld and would simply turn to dust upon death. Even if she is damned, she might as well deserved it. She cares more about preserving her legacy in life rather than preparing for an afterlife that probably doesn’t exist. Sophinx often visits the dance class-ic room after curfew for practice. During these hours, she brings to life broomsticks and mops to use as dancing partners. Sophinx enchants them by first enchanting vegetables then staking the broomsticks through them. The vegetable, usually a cabbage or turnip serves as a brain for the broom to function. Then she dresses them in nice clothes. *Painting *Anatomy **Remembers all the bones in the body and can quickly point them out on an anatomical model. **Has a few minature plastic models in her dorm. Sophinx is admittedly a fan of the work of Dr Gunther von Hagens but she isn’t considering using his methods in her kingdom due to the fact she has to remain faithful to her tale. She also owns the full Gunther von Hagens collection on DVD, which she only watches on her laptop at night to avoid creeping out her roomie.She’s a night owl so can stay up enough to go through an episode. Sophinx has visited one of his exhibitions and posted some pictures of herself participating the included educational activities on her mirror blog, such as one of her dancing in front of a projection of her skeleton. *However, Sophinx might consider arranging the skeletons of her victims in artful ways similar to Gunther's plastinates, such as having tea, playing chess, sniffing flowers, going for a stroll in her garden. She might also try to make use of less than perfect specimens of organs by turning them into plastinates to be used as educational models to teach others about certain diseases. *Knitting: What’s a girl to do while she waits for heads to roll? That’s right, knit. *Dressage: Aside from the killings, Sophinx’s kingdom is also known for its grand parades featuring the men and women of court in their finest, with the princess herself being the main attraction. As the star of the show Sophinx is trained in dressage. Fairy tale - The Traveling Companion How the story goes Main article: The Traveling Companion After “Happily Ever After” Many generations after the first reenactment of the story, the Riddleton royal family has transformed their kingdom into an empire profitting off the remains of the dead. Sophinx’s family, the princesses in particular, is infamous for their mass executions of princes and how they dealt with the bodies. According to the story, the skeletons of dead princes are hung in the royal gardens. Most of them are to be returned to their home kingdoms once the princess’ “curse” has been lifted but a few unlucky individuals are left behind to entertain tourists visiting the gardens, which are open to the public while the kingdom waits for the next generation. Every prince who wants a chance at winning the princess’ hand must sign a contract, agreeing to donate his body for the greater good should he fail. After the decapitation, the bodies are to be used for medical research or harvested for transplantable organs. Sophinx says it’s sometimes the donation is the only ‘’useful’’ thing some of the princes will ever do in their lives. Little goes to waste. The blood from the bodies are examined then sucked clean to fuel the national blood bank. Even the fat gets made into tallow for soapmaking. The remaining bones are processed, articulated and left in rusty gibbets to terrify the next John. Those unclaimed by the end of the story are left in those cages. New skeletons replace older ones, which are used to construct an ossuary in the form of a chapel as a final goodbye to the unlucky princes disowned and forgotten by their families and kingdoms. Bones which are too small or too fragile for construction are turned into bone ash to be made into bone china. Sophinx casually nicknamed her kingdom “the Prince Charming processing plant.” Though never officially acknowledged, applying their sons for the destiny of the unlucky princes was a legal way for some Charming branches and other royal families with too many children to get rid of ones that are inept and spoiled to save money (and save face). Her kingdom is not the only one to serve this function but it is the most business-oriented. Sophinx admits it’s a little bit harder to find healthy lungs, kidneys and livers due to some of the donors being smokers and alcoholics. She has considered earning some extra bucks from plastinating these less than perfect specimens... The princes’ contributions have allowed the Riddleton kingdom to provide some of the best healthcare services in Ever After, therefore becoming a popular destination for medical tourism. Thoughts on destiny Although Sophinx doesn’t believe she has the divine right to rule and her place as her kingdom’s crown princess was merely a coincidence created by deliberate decisions of the past, she still feels that she doesn’t have much of a choice. Her job is hardly a chore in her eyes but an honor that she would do anything to uphold. Sophinx goes as far as to call herself a “modern predator” responsible for weeding out the weak to ensure the livelihood of the rest of humankind. Sophinx despised destiny-less princes, especially Charmings because as sons of arguably the most influential royal families, they are most likely to use it to get whatever they want, such as a place in an exclusive school like Ever After High without needing a destiny. She insultingly called them rabbits, implying that they are too indulgent and invasive. With so much wealth in their hands, many of these princes hunt, party and sleep around too much without any regard for the consequences. Not only that but her intentions went beyond old school symbolism. As with any cute and cuddly animal, rabbits have invaded the public consciousness but that doesn’t change the fact they’re still an invasive species. People celebrate these princes despite their unsavory actions and attitude. They’re basically “glorified rats” as Sophinx herself puts it, who deserve to be disposed of. She was taught to treat such lazy individuals as less than human, so it’s not surprising for Sophinx to consider turning their remains into artful objects as a way to make use of and elevate the crude and rude to a higher level. Under her mother’s instruction, Sophinx has done much to desensitize herself against the horrors of her destiny. Augustine would to take Sophinx to body farms and operating theaters. She has assisted anatomists with their autopsies. She has seen corpses in their most rotten and mutilated state. She has cut open and touched the fresh organs of cadavers while blood drips from her gloved fingers. All without batting an eye. Sophinx once firmly believed in her ideals. That was until she met up with some Charmings herself, many of which she grew to respect. It’s not that she was completely insensitive to the Charmings that perished before but her sympathy only grew upon getting to know these individuals who are shining examples of what Charmings can really become. Sophinx genuinely feels sorry for the princes who have lost their lives to her family, knowing they had every chance to be much better than they were. Had their parents not been so uncaring to leave them to their own devices with little to no guidance, these royals could have become competent rulers and heroes regardless of whether they were assigned a story or not. Sophinx mourns for the poor unfortunate souls whose families have unceremoniously disowned them by sending them to their deaths. To be frank, Sophinx feels that she might be the only living person who has even the slightest care for them, so she takes it upon herself to honor them in her own little weird way. Whenever she’s in her home kingdom, Sophinx always takes the time to visit the bone chapel, light incense and ask for prayers to be said for the dead princes, albeit in secret. Sophinx intends to ask her suitors about their favorite flowers so she would know where in her garden to assign their skeletons and allow them to sleep among their favorite plants. She wants to paint their skulls with such flowers as well as their names so it would be easily for loved ones to retrieve them after her story ends. If anyone even bothered, that is. Sophinx also used to think she’d be perfectly fine marrying her destined John. She was promised he would be nice. Between brains and a heart, she would take the heart cause if he’s as good and pure as he should be for his role, he’d love her unconditionally or at least be tolerable to live with. Her father Jean was such a man and her parents seemed to be happy together so she had no reason to think that her happily ever wouldn’t turn out the same. But then she found herself having feelings. Never did Sophinx think she could fall for someone outside of her destiny. Sure, who isn’t amused by the idea of romantic love but Sophinx never really saw a practical use for it. Now, Sophinx feels life would be meaningless without it. She’s by no means looking for an individual who would complete her but rather someone she could share her experience with. Paralels *Sophinx’s hair is based on a sunset and she wears a halo crown or hat because the princess’ beauty in the story is often compared to the sun. The spooky halo crown is also a nod to the princess still loved by her people despite her crimes. Her eyes are based on the flames of a bunsen burner because the princess was described to have fiery eyes. *Sophinx’s designs feature moths and tulips because the princess wore a mantle with butterflies sewn on. The princess and her riders were carrying tulips as they rode. *Sophinx does dressage. The princess makes her first appearance leading a group of riders. Ceruse is the same color as the horse she was riding. *Sophinx is capable of turning into a black neck swan. At the end, the princess shortly turned into a black swan, then a white one with a black ring around its neck while John was trying to wash her in the magic bath. *She likes spending time with and has feelings for a non-human despite it all, similar to the princess and magician’s dynamic in the story. *Sophinx’s tendency to laugh it off when things don’t go her way is similar to the princess’ laugh towards the end of her last flight to the magician’s cave before collapsing. Relationships Family *Queen Augustine Riddleton (mother): Augustine is Sophinx’s biggest role model. *King (Consort) Jean-Baptiste Toulemonde (father) Friends *Thaumar Orczy: Thaumar is Sophinx’s destined magician. Due to the fact they aren’t allowed to be seen together in public, Sophinx and Thaumar keep in touch via emails. They’re study buddies who often work on Chemythstry and Science and Sorcery exercises with each other. They have yet to see each other face to face but they’re looking forward to it once destiny comes. *Rising Charming (roommate):TBA *Lively Charming:TBA *Raymond War Acquaintances *Ablative Charming:TBA Romance Other *The Court (Reina Maledi, Lilura Goya & Nobelle Fox) Outfits Basic Casual When not in the public eye, Sophinx dresses for herself. Sophinx tries to enjoy her beauty while it lasts so she flaunts backless dresses and bra less suits. Wave 2 Sophinx wears a halo hat with a painted golden sun and some fabric tulips sewn onto it. She wears a yellowish beige dinner jacket that has a red felt underside. The lapels are of black and red silk with sewn-on silver ribbons and buttons representing surgical clips. The back of the jacket has mulitple slits and is knotted to represent an exposed spine. Sophinx has black bell bottom pants with red silk and white chiffon ruffles lined with gold thread piping, mimicking exposed flesh with fatty tissue in between. Disco Sophinx wears a very ruffled shirt with pink and yellow tulle layers. It has very deep v-line collar that stops right below her breasts. She has a hot pink ribbon around her waist. The ruffles around her neckline are trimmed with hot pink. She wears golden glitter spandex leggings that has a pink skeleton legs print on it and frilly heels Getting Fairest Sophinx wears a white t-shirt with angel wing cut-outs in the back, revealing a red undershirt. Legacy Day Sophinx wears a golden halo tiara with moths on the end of the spikes and swirly decorative patterns. She wears a long black sleeveless velvet coat embroidered with golden death head's hawkmoths and a golden dress with folded chiffon sleeves. Golden butterfly sequins are sewn onto the sleeves. Spring Unsprung - Lillies and Tulips Sophinx’s design features tulips and lilies, which are both susceptible to the tulip breaking virus. TBV causes vibrant stripes on the edge of petals while removing color from the rest of the flower. Tulips carrying the virus were all the rage during the Tulip Mania because they were beautiful and rare. Over time, plants infected with TBV will stop flowering and die. None of the flowers on her clothes are real, therefore there’s so risk of spreading the virus. The pattern on her tulip dress is based on the tulip attached to the scepter of the Danish royal family, with studs in place of jewels. For the high-low effect, Sophinx wears a frilly mantelet with a long train in the back. The tulle frills splashed with color mimic parrot tulip petals. Instead of a flower crown, Sophinx wears a hair comb with flowers stringed to it, based on a similar piece of headgear worn by Queen Margrethe of Denmark. Her hair is put up in a beehive and streaked with her signature neon green and yellow. Lilies are popular flowers for funeral floral arrangements. Combined with her hangman earrings, gibbet cage inspired socks and gates to Paradise heels, it fits her macabre theme.Sophinx’s bag is a giant latex skull that has tulips and lilies as a flower crown and filling the eye sockets as a nod to the treatment given to the remains of the princess’ victims. Thronecoming - Death’s head hawkmoth Dressage/Parade Sophinx normally wears clothes that comply with arena dress codes, opting for a black top hat, matching tailcoat with golden lapels. For parades, she wears a gilded tailcoat with black moths embroidered onto it. Her top hat has a short veil and fabric moths attached to the brim. There is a golden ribbon wrapped around the top hat. She wears jewel-encrusted English spurs on her boots. She always carries her whip, in and out of uniform. Hattastic Tea Party TBA Casuals TBA Date Night (?) I’m only putting these outfits in this section because Sophinx didn’t pick out all of the stuff herself but rather her crush did. *Cloud outfit: *Angel outfit: Dancing Queen/Disco TBA Met Gala - The Great Red Dragon TBA Trivia *Sophinx’s first name is a combination of the name Sophie and Sphinx. Alike the princess, the Sphinx kills people who fail to answer its riddles correctly. **Coincidentally, hawkmoths are also known as sphinx moths. Sophinx’s basic design is based on the death’s head hawkmoth, a creature often viewed as a bad omen and a sign of evil. **Her legacy day outfit is inspired by the black witch moth, another moth with similar associations. The latter being featured in the novel Silence of the Lambs and the former appearing in the movie adaption of said novel. **Sophinx’s clothes are based on mourning wear, as the entire kingdom goes into a mourning state while the executions took place. *Sophinx’s motivations are based on those of Vlad Dracul, the infamous Wallachian prince known for impaling his prisoners. He was greatly feared by invaders yet still respected by his people. *Sophinx is also inspired by the reimagined Dr Hannibal Lector played by Mads Mikkelsen in NBC’s Hannibal tv series. *I may or may not have been basing Sophinx’s kingdom off of Geneco from Repo! The Genetic Opera. *Sophinx’s knitting hobby is a reference to the tricoteuse, knitting ladies who attended public executions during the French Revolution. *The month of Sophinx’s birthday is chosen as reference to the Semper Augustus tulips, which are known for their fiery streaks caused by the tulip breaking virus.The date is a nod to the fact that the princess is the thirteenth member of her group of riders seen during the parade in the story. Each rider carried a tulip in her hand. *Her pet horse is named after Conquest, the horseman riding a white horse during the apocalypse. *Sophinx likes bubble baths. *Her favorite drink is black tea toddy mixed wih her kingdom’s famous black brandy created to commemorate the executions. Sophinx has a few book-shaped bone china flasks filled with the dyed brandy hidden on a bookshelf among real books in her dorm room. She sometimes serves them to guests at her tea parties, so long as they’re old enough to consume it. Sophinx has reserved a special edition flask filled with a special blend made in honor of her mother's coronation only for herself and those she's really close to. *Sophinx is agnostic. She doesn't follow any religion but isn't against people who do or the idea that a God exists. Sophinx understands her actions are beyond the acceptability of any religion and any destruction she creates pales in comparison to the damage destiny can do. She doesn't pray, but the princes she'll end up killing and her people do. *Sophinx pays close attention to people’s eyes when interacting. There are two streams of thought when she does this. Sophinx is both trying to figure out what a person is feeling and trying to judge whether the corneas are good enough for transplantation. *Sophinx is sort of a foil to Easter Benedict, another sun-inspired dancing princess. Only Easter is much nicer and a bit shy, her palette features lighter colors and that she can transform into a duck instead of a swan, though involuntarily. Sophinx shares some similarities with Sola’s other OCs, such as the spikes and skulls in Grizzabella Penumbra’s designs, the butterfly theme and black used as a major color in Mariposa Lavador’s basic and her being a scary tea-loving future serial killer redhead like Bane O'Rouge. Quotes Gallery Sophinxfs.jpeg Sophinx sketch.jpeg Broombf.jpeg|Even a killer queen needs love! Lampbro.jpeg|She wants lämp Sophinx pride2k19.png|By DatAsymptote for Pride Month! Mixedfeelings.jpeg|Sophinx in an outfit picked by her crush. HotdamnByHammond.jpeg|A comic by Hammond! Based on a discord message of mine. Egoredraw.jpeg Cloudsophinx.jpeg Swan hug.png|Raymond holding Sophinx in her swan form. Sophinx Date Night mockups.jpeg|Sophinx’s outfits picked by Raymond. SophinxbyHammond.png|Commission by Hammond MothintheWind.png|Raymond and Sophinx sitting together. Sophinxmodern.png Theme songs *Main theme: Linger a While by Cosmo Sheldrake. *Birth of an empire by Sophie Ellis Bextor. *Weapon by Bastille. *All Men Are Pigs by Studio Killers. *You should see me in a crown by Billie Eilish. *Take me to church by Hozier. *I’d rather be burned as a witch by Eartha Kitt. *Shall we dance from The King and I. *Power and Control by Marina and the Diamonds. *Dancing Queen by ABBA. *Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac. *Time to fade by MAI LAN. Category:Characters Category:Females Category:Royals Category:The Traveling Companion Category:Madame O'Front Category:Bisexual Category:Danish Category:Solarius Balasar's OCs